Glowing Mrs. Captain America Costume – Light of the Party!

This is me in my Mrs Captain America costume. I was inspired by the Avengers this year and liked the possibility of growing this into a group costume at some point. I did start with a pre-made dress, mask and shield for Mrs Captain America but it definitely needed more pizazz!

I’ve recently fell in love with EL wire (electroluminescent wire), also known as glow wire. I ordered some red, white and blue strands and battery packs and went to work. I outlined the dress by gluing the wire around the edges and details. I sewed the wire down at corners and bends. Next I outlined the mask and taped up the extra so that light wouldn’t shine through. Finally I glued wire detail lights onto the shield and then had a brilliant idea! I decided to turn the shield into a purse. I glued fabric inside, added a zipper and stored all of the battery packs in the bag. I routed all the wires to the underarm of the costume, taping up any exposed glow wire that I didn’t want to show. Finally I added a strap to my shield/purse and was ready to go.

I already tried this out at a local night club and it was a huge hit! Everyone loved the lights, the detail shows up great in the dark club, people loved the purse/shield and the fact that it held all the battery packs and cabling, and it made it easy for all my friends to find me throughout the night. They had a mini costume contest at the end of the night and I made it to the finalists stage, but unfortunately they turned the lights on for the contest. Had the lights been lower I think I would have had a good chance at the top prize!

I would definitely combine EL wire and Halloween again in the future. I think it would be a great kids costume too because it has built in lights to keep the young trick-or-treaters safe and easily tracked by their parents!